Power plant for operating an accessory



Nov. 29, 1938. E. c. HORTON POWER PLANT FOB OPERATING AN ACCESSORY Filed July 15, 1936 m in w 00 m0 m NH R E m i a M Patented Nov. 29, 1938 UNITED sTATas PATENT Lorrie;

POWER PLANT FOR OPERATING AN y ACCESSORY Erwin G. Horton, I IamburgQNQYQ assignorl to I Trico Products Corporation, Buffalo, i,

Application'July lli, 1936, Serial No. 90,448

13 :Claims. (01. ism-6o This inventionrelates to an accessory system for motor vehicles and more particularly to the generation of a pressure influence fonutili zation in operating theaccessory.

Reduced atmospheric pressure or suction has, been found to be a convenient and practical form of energy for operating a variety of. automotive, accessories, as for instance, windshieldwipe'rs,

fuel pumps, horns, etc. This sort of energy, has

been variously generated, some of thermethods heretofore employed being. the tapping, of the intake manifold of an internal combustion'engine, mechanical power take-off from .moving parts of the running gear of, a motor vehicle, and the conversion of, some source of fluid pressure available in a motor vehicle to subatmospheric pressure. V

The present invention'falls approximatelyin the latter class, in that thepressure or force of a stream of oilfrom the lubricating system of an internal combustion engine, or similar source of such pressureor force, is used to drive a pump. The present invention aims to provide animproved accessory systermwherein the pressure pump is operated in a practical and efiicient from the form or type of motor employed in connection with the pump, and the relative positions occupied by the motor and pump. The use of an open turbin for dri mg the pump provides a ,driving,mechanism which, when the resistance offered by the pumped fluid through the medium of the pump=becomes too great, merely ceasesto operate, without strain, slippage or other detrimental or destructi ve effeet on themechanism. H a when a rotary gear pumpris used for pumping a gas some difliculty is encountered inveifectively preventing adventitious escape of the gas" between the gear teeth and between the faceoi the gears and the walls of the casing. To overcome this objection various forms of seals, includ- In prior efforts to employ gear pumps for geiicrating sub-atmospheric pressure it has been found/that when the pressure is reduced beyond a certain point, thesurrounding atmosphere, in

' its" attempt, to enter the area of reduced pres-'- sure in the pumping chamber, causes a poping noise which is oftenhighly objectionable; The facility with which undue resistance inthe pump arrests the movement of 'the driving turbine in the present invention eliminates this objection to the use of a'gar'pu'mp;

Simplicity of construction is-another' of many. additional advantages which result- 'from 'this invention, one embodiment of which is shown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an internalcombustion engine including the-instant device; a

Fig. 2 is a side elevationof, the combined turbine and pump taken from the interior of the internal combustion enginepand 3 is a crosssectio'nal. view line III-III of Fig. 2.-

In the drawing, l0 designates generally an internal combustion engine of thealusu'al type having a crank case ii and a fvorce feed lubricating system (not shown).

, The present invention is'shown' disposed in the taken on. the

wall of the crank case at l2, a; position above thefn'ormal oil level ii in the interiorxof the crank case.

v A pump mounting member It is secured to the outside of the crank case by screws l5, and etfectively seals an opening l8 provided in the wall of the crank case*ll. The'pump maybe of an approved form, that illustrated 'embodying a pair of interme'shing gears 1 land 18 which are positioned approximately within the opening l6 jand against the member H- and-rare provided at their outer side with journals l9 bearing in the member ll. A casing 20 1s formed upon the inner side of the member 14 :and extends inwardly and upwardly to form a pump chamber -for enclosing the lower halves of both gears about their point of mesh and thereadjacent' where II for theinwardly extending Journals 22 and ing fluid seals, have been devised. Through the 23 of the gears l1 and i8 respectively, I "A suctionor subtmospheric pressure conduit "is connected to the member ll by means of a gland nut 25 which is screwed into a boss 26 formed upon the-member l4. The conduit "-24 communicates with a port 2.! as well as a suction operated iacces'sory such as a. windshield cleaner (not shown), and it-will be apparent that whenthe gears "and iii are rotated clockwisely, and counter-clockwisely, respectively, as

viewed in Fig, 2, air will be'withdrawn from the accessory through the conduit 24 and discharged into the crank case H. s

The pump is .driven by a motor, preferably a jet type motor, embodying a bladed wheel or turbine 28. This turbine wheel 28 is fixed to the journal 22 of gear H by means of threaded collars 30 and provided with impeller blades 29 extending in the direction of rotation.

A conduit 3| leads from some source of oil flowing under pressure, as in the pressure line of the engine force-feed lubrication system, and discharges a stream of oil against the impeller blades 29 through a jet 32. This stream of oil, when it strikes the impeller blades 29, causes rotation of the turbine wheel 28 and the consequential operation of the pump. Before returning to the lubrication system at least aportion of the oil is delivered to the pump'to seal as well as lubricate the same for efficient operation. To this-end the pump and the impeller blades are. so arranged that a portion of the oil striking the impeller blades 29 is splashed or sprayed, as indicated at 33, upon the gears l1, l8 to provide an effective oil seal for the pump, as well as a thorough lubrication of the same. Attention is called to the fact that the air displacing member ormembers of the pump-have theirfunctioning parts exposed to the splashing oil so as to insure and assist this mode of operation.

The jet 32 is fixed in a definite position in the engine, while the motor-pump unit'is removable and replaceable through the opening l6. This facilitates the installation and renders the unit readily accessible. Any oil entrained by the gears and brought into the pump chamber is'subsequently returned to thecrank case at the points where the teeth of the gears l1 and 18 leave the casingZfl. Q

It will, therefore, be seen that, since the pump cannot operate without a discharge of oil from the jet 32, it'will nover-bein operation without the presence-of an adequate-supply of oil for an effective fluid seal of the gear pump. Further, the oil seal is maintained without the provision of special piping or conduits to convey the oil to the gears. p s In casethe pressure in the conduit 24 becomes too low to be further reduced by action of the turbine wheel, either because the inlet to the conduit 24 is closed or restricted, orv for any other reason, or if the resistance of the gear pump becomes'excessiveifor any other reason, the oil stream will splash idly upon the impeller blades and the turbinewheel 28 may slow down, stop, or even reverse itself, without any undue friction or strain being placed on any element of the device.

The air displacing means of the pump, whether of the gear type or otherwise, are lubricated and sealed efliciently. The gears, while depicted as being substantially half enclosed, may be more or less encased, but sufliciently opened to the splashing oil to obtain the desired-operation. Furthermore, the upper halves of the gears may be enclosed and the under halves exposed, or the axes of the gears maybe disposed otherwise than in the same horizontal plane, provision being made to bringthe exposed portions of the; gears into the splashing oil. l 1 t In practice, theturbine and pump may be partitioned from the remainder of the crank case 'whereby the engine agitation of the oil bath will vided. The particular arrangement and disposition of parts in the above description and in the drawing is, of course, merely exemplary, and the invention is not to be considered as limited thereby in any way excepting as defined in the appended claims.

. elements journaled in said casing, a turbine rotor mountedfor rotation directly with one of said pumping elements and located in a position adjacent said pumping element, means for directing a flow of lubricant from the lubricating system against the turbine rotor to rotate the same, the spent lubricant, owing to the location of the turbine relative to said one pumping element, discharging upon the latter to provide a fluid seal for said pumping elements.

2. In a motor vehicle power plant including an internal combustion engine having a circulatory lubricating system, a suction pump comprising a casing, a 'pair of interengaging rotary pumping elements journaled in said casing, a turbine rotor of greater diameter than said pumping elements mounted for rotation and located in a position adjacent saidpumping elements, means for directing aflow of lubricant from the lubricating system againstthe turbine rotor with sufficient force 3. A 'motor vehicle power plant havingan engine crank case with 'an opening in a wall thereof, alubricating system for the power plant provided-with a jet located in a predetermined position within the crank case and adjacent the opening, and a jet operated air pump for supplying differential pressure to a pressure actuated accessory system, said pumpbeingadapted' to be positioned andfsecured in the wall opening in such manner as to close the opening and automatically dispose said jet "operated .air pump in proper operating relation with respect to said jet.

' 4. Ina motor vehicle power plant having an engine crankcase with an opening in a wall thereof, a lubricating system for the power plant; provided witha jet located adjacent the opening and 'a jet operated air pump for supplying differential pressure toan accessory, said pump comprising a substantially flat plate for positioning over the opening in said crank case wall, and a casing disposed on the inner face of said plate, rotary pumping members journaled in 'said' casing and a wall automatically locates the turbine rotor in proper relation in the path of the stream of fluid from said jet.

'5. In asuction pump for association with the crank case of an internal cornbustion'engine comprisinga plate member adapt'e'd to be'p'ositioned over an opening in the crank case wall; a pair of rotary intermeshing pumping elements mounted against said plate memberand journaled therein at oneof their sides, an extension upon "the plate member extending across the peripheries and portions of the sides of the gears at and adjacent their point of mesh, said extension being provided with bearings, journals at said other sides of the gears and disposed in said bearings, and a turbine rotor mounted upon one of said journals upon the opposite side of said bearings from said pumping elements and adapted to be driven by a current of oil within said crank case.

6. In a. suction pump for association with the crank case of an internal combustion engine comprising a pump chamber with an air port, an air displacing member in the chamber, said chamber being open at one side, a bladed wheel mounted adjacent the pump chamber, and a jet for directing a stream of oil against the wheel to drive the same and with such force to splash over for entering the open side of the chamber to lubricate the pump.

'7. In a motor vehicle power plantdncluding an internal combustion engine having a\ circulatory lubricating system, a suction pump comprising a casing, an air displacing member having parts movable in sliding contact with thewalls-of the casing, a bladed wheel for operating the air displacing member, and means for directing a current of oil from the lubricating system against the bladed wheel to rotate the same and splash therefrom, the casing being open at one part to receive a portion of the splashingoil for lubricating said displacing member. I

8. In a motor vehicle power plant including an internal combustion engine havinga circulatory lubricating system, a suction pump operable for comprising a casing, a pair of interengaging roa jet located in a predetermined position within the crank case and adjacent the opening, and a jet operated air pump for supplying difierential pressure to a pressure actuated accessory system, said pump being detachably mounted over the wall opening to close the same and having a jet operated part disposed to receive a stream of oil from the fixed jet. I

10. A pumping system including a suction pump tary pumping elements journaled in said casing, a turbine rotor mounted for rotation with one of said pumping elements and located in a position adjacent said pumping elements, and means for directing a jet or liquid under pressure against the turbine rotor to rotate the same, the spent liquid, owing to the location of the turbine relative to said pumping elements, discharging upon the latter to provide a liquid seal for said pumping elements.

11. In a. motor vehicle power plant including an internal combustion engine having 'a circulatory lubricating system and a low pressure actuated casing, an 'air intake conduit leadingirom. said accessory motor to said casing, and a pair of interengaging rotary pumping elements journaled in said casing, a turbine rotor of greater diameter than said pumping elements mounted for rotation and located in a position adjacent said pumping elements, means for directing a flow of lubricant from the lubricating system against the accessory motor, a suction pump comprising a turbine rotor-with suiiicient force to rotate the same andxto splash therefrom, the casing opening into the splash whereby to lubricate said pumping elements and to provide a fluid seal for the same.

12. In a pumping system, a suction pump operable for supplying low pressure to a suction operated accessory, said pump comprising a casing, an air displacing member therein and having sliding contact with the inner wall thereof, a jet.

driven motor for operating said air displacing member, and means for directing a current of liquid against said motor to operate the same and subsequently traverse the pump means to effect a seal between the air displacing member and the casing. a

13. In a motor vehicle power plant including an internal combustion engine having a forced liquid circulating system, a suction pump comprising a casing, a pair 0! interengaging rotary pumping elements journaled in said casing, a

turbine rotor of greater diameter than said pumping elements mounted for rotation and located in a. position adj acentsaid pumping elements, means for directing a flow of liquid from the circulating system against the turbine rotor with suflicient force to rotate the same and to splash therefrom, the casing opening into the splash whereby to provide a fluid seal for said pumpingelements.

ERWIN C. HORTON. 

